Who do you trust

Preached 17 February 2019

1. Blessings or Woes

I wonder, do the blessings or the woes stand out to you more when you hear that passage from Luke? For me, it’s always the woes. I suppose that’s because there’s always a part of me that thinks I’m not doing it right, and I’m going to suffer the consequences.

Perhaps for you, it's the blessings and God’s promises for a better future and a closer relationship are what draws you to Him.

2. Sermon on the Plain

The reading from Luke is the start of a passage that is known as the Sermon on the plain. Luke’s report of the sermon ends in verse 49. It is often compared with the sermon on the mount, and some commentators will tell you that they are one and the same thing. That however seems unlikely as there has been quite an effort to set up the occasion and there are a lot of differences too.

3. Similarities

The similarities though are striking, and it is probable that these verses form the core of Jesus’ teaching. If that is the case, this sermon, the sermon on the mount and many others like it would have regularly been preached by Jesus – every time there was a large crowd.

If this is the case, and it probably is, then we should look at what Jesus is saying very carefully – so let's do that for the next few minutes.

4. Blessings and Woes – Introduction

If you look back at verse 12 you will see that Jesus has spent the previous night – the whole of it – praying to God. In the morning, he calls his disciples to him (we don’t know how many there were) and selects 12 to be apostles. He then takes the 12 apostles down to the plain, where other disciples and a large crowd are waiting. There’s no mention of breakfast!

He appears to be speaking to His disciples when he starts “Blessed are you who are poor ...” but He is aware that the entire crowd is listening to His every word. After all, many of them had already been healed.

5. Luke

At this point, I should say something about the author and the purpose of his writing. Luke tells us that he has spoken to eyewitnesses and carefully researched his work. Here’s what one commentary says about the recipient. “The Gospel is specifically directed to Theophilus, whose name means ‘one who loves God’ and almost certainly refers to a particular person rather than to lovers of God in general. The use of ‘most excellent’ with the name further indicates an individual, and supports the idea that he was a Roman official or at least of high position and wealth. He was possibly Luke’s patron, responsible for seeing that the writings were copied and distributed. Such a dedication to the publisher was common at that time.”

So the sayings of Jesus recorded here are trustworthy, and Luke has not edited anything important out or in any way diluted the message for his rich patron.

6. Pair each Blessing and Woe

So, lets pair up the blessings and the woes and try to understand them better. Lets start with:

7. Poor / Rich

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” from verse 20 and “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

Does this mean that all us rich people are going to be forever cursed and there is nothing we can do about it but make ourselves poor?

Isn’t that what the story of the Rich man and Lazarus teaches us also?

But there are rich people among the believers in the New Testament too.

Joseph of Arimathea, for example, was a wealthy man. He appears to be a true disciple when he and Nicodemus make a bold request for the body of Jesus. Joseph placed Jesus in an expensive tomb and paid for an extravagant amount of spices for Jesus’ burial.

Barnabas, also, seemed to have some wealth. He sold a field in Cyprus and voluntarily gave the proceeds to the Apostles for redistribution.

The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they failed to give all when they sold a piece of property, but that they lied about the fact that they had held back some of the money. Peter clearly said that they were free to sell or not, and were free to give as much or a little as they chose.

We can also see in Luke 8 that there are several wealthy women who support the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles.

So whatever is to be said here about the blessings of being poor and the curse of the rich is at least tempered by examples that Luke himself provides.

So it seems better to understand that Jesus is referring to our attitudes to wealth and not the wealth itself. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil, not money itself. Hoarding of riches and depending upon it for your own sense of security rather than trusting in the LORD is what is sinful. In the Christian context, physical wealth goes along with spiritual gifts as means by which the Christian church was to care for its members.

8. Hunger / Satisfied

Now let’s look at the next pair. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied” (v21) and “Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.” (v25)

These verses have been used, to prompt the feeding of the hungry around the world, in natural disasters and in man made ones. They are a warning about the dangers of food poverty and gluttony. It is not about being adequately fed. The early church, the same disciples that Jesus is talking to here, made sure that the gentile widows were treated equally with the Jewish widows and appointed Stephen to the task. Paul reminded the Corinthians that their services should not allow some to eat while others went hungry. This happened in a society where the high status families ate first, then everyone else but the slaves, who only ate the scraps that were left over. That’s alright for the world, Paul says, but it isn’t for the church.

As Christianity spread it ceased to be alright in the Christian world at all, and efforts were made to alleviate food poverty – starvation completely. Sadly, as Christianity has retreated starvation has begun to return, and now the church is running food banks to try to stem the tide.

9. Weep / Laugh

The next pair, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” (v21) and “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” (v25).

The kingdom of God is supposed to be full of the joy of the Lord, and that will undoubtedly include laughter. In some situations laughter is interpreted as the presence of the Holy Spirit. Also, laughter is not really the opposite of mourning. So what is Jesus talking about when He says woe to you who laugh?

He’s talking about the type of laughter that is mocking, that occurs out of superiority and disdain. This is how God described the Babylonians to Habakkuk:

They mock kings and scoff at rulers.

They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps, they capture them.

When we laugh at the weak, the poor, or those struggling with difficulties in their lives, we put ourselves above God. So we stop trusting in him and trust our own judgement and our own ways. This is what the Israelites had done before the Babylonians arrived, and what the Babylonians were later punished for. So remember, just as there’s always someone worse off than you, there’s also always someone stronger, and better able to look after themselves.

But those who are in mourning will receive God's comfort, will know the Kingdom of heaven, and will laugh with joy.

1. Hate you / Speak well of you

The last blessing and woe is a little more complicated.

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. (v22)

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (v26)

We can see how the disciples understood this in Acts 5:41 where after Peter and John had been beaten for speaking of Jesus it says “They were happy to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonour for speaking about Jesus.” This blessing and woe shows more directly than the others where our loyalties lie. If, like the apostles, we are prepared to witness to the world about Jesus, even when we are told not to, or threatened, or beaten or killed, then God's blessings are upon us.

We should not misunderstand Paul’s writing to Timothy, where, when talking about the selection of overseers and deacons, he says “He must also have a good reputation with outsiders”. Here Paul is talking about the character of the potential candidate, not his ability or willingness to witness.

2. Conclusion

Our response to the blessings and woes shows where our trust lies.

Do we rely on God, or prefer financial security?

Are we more concerned about feeding the poor or going out for the next big meal?

Do we mourn for the state of the world, or do we laugh mockingly at those whose lives are a struggle?

Is our witness to Jesus strong enough to upset some of the people who are against the faith?

References

http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/lk6a.htm

https://www.holytextures.com/2013/01/luke-6-17-26-year-c-epiphany-6-february-11-february-17-sermon.html

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-sermon-on-the-plain-an-exposition-of-luke-6-17-38-mark-a-barber-sermon-on-beatitudes-237216?ref=SermonSerps